The Battle for Olympus

Percy

Percy woke up remarkably refreshed. He didn't think he'd sleep well in the guest bedroom of the La Rue's house, especially with the stuffed boars head watching him, but he hadn't even dreamed.

Dishes clanged in the distance, and Percy thought he smelled cooking bacon. Bacon! Percy rolled out of bed and threw on his jeans and purple t-shirt. Despite everything they'd been through, they were holding up well. He slipped riptide in his pocket and stumbled downstairs.

Michelle stood at the stove, her back to the counter, as she flipped pancakes.

"Morning, Percy," Clarisse said, eyeing him over a cup of black coffee. "You do realize it's 11:30?"

"Yeah, yeah, yesterday was kind of stressful. This looks amazing though!"

Michelle smirked and turned around. "Breakfast is my specialty. You should see my meat lovers omelet. Five different kinds of meat," she said, counting them down on her fingers. "Chorizo, bacon, ham, sausage, and chicken. Enough protein to last you the whole day."

"You should meet my mom, she'd love to cook with you."

The thought made him sad. It'd been... gods, how long had it been? At least six months since he'd seen her. He hoped she and Paul were doing well.

Michelle rubbed the grease from her hands on her apron. "She better come out here, I ain't going to New York."

"We know, mom," Clarisse said. "While you feed Percy, I'm going to go get packed up. I have a feeling this trip's gonna be a long one."

At Clarisse's departure, Michelle sighed and slumped against the counter. "Looks like you got her roped back in again. I was sure she was done with fighting."

Percy frowned. Clarisse? Done with fighting? "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Michelle's gaze dropped. "Ever since Clarisse told me about her friend Silena, she's been less willing to involve herself in camp stuff. That's why she didn't go looking for you, and why she didn't go back to camp when things got bad."

"Huh." Percy remembered that day too vividly. Silena's limp body on the pavement, Clarisse sobbing over her before killing the drakon. That was one of the nicer things about memory loss. He couldn't feel what he couldn't remember.

Michelle shook her head. "Anyways, eat up. Sounds like you have a hell of a journey ahead of you."

After breakfast, Percy and Clarisse packed everything up and left the La Rue residence. They decided it was better to take Percy's stolen car because there was no telling what would happen to it.

"Your mom is really nice," Percy said as they walked back down the driveway. "I mean, after she held me at gunpoint."

Clarisse snorted. "You wouldn't be the first person she's shot. Or the last."

"That's... admirable."

"Mmhmm."

They walked in silence for a moment. "Hey, what are you studying in college anyway?" Percy asked. He'd been meaning to bring it up.

"None of your business." Clarisse glared at him. "But if you have to know, history."

Percy snorted. "Really? History?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Percy shrugged. "I just imagined you as a PE teacher or something."

"Are you kidding? You're the one who's gonna be a PE teacher." Clarisse paused. "It's just... so much of history was written by the winners. I've learned a lot talking to the skeletons of the losers. I want to set the record straight."